What a beautiful phonograph! Electric motor, belt driven, gorgeous design. Audiophiles, eat your hearts out. Superb record too: The California Ramblers (aka "Golden Gate Orchestra") with a great trombone solo by Miff Mole.
We had a Kurtzmann in our collection; my partner Ernie Bennett bought it in the middle 1960s. Along with it was an original sales brochure. It was selling to the rich crowd of "audiophiles" of the day. The selling points included the Kurtzmann Sitka spruce internal horn musically ideal for shellac records...because the same spruce is used for the finest piano sounding boards! ; ) And the glass turntable? That was acoustically important, too said the brochure; the glass was inert and damped-out all the metallic tones. The phono's turntable is powered by electricity, unusual for that era when most all phonos were wound-up. The motor itself is ball-shaped for a neat appearance suspended inside the glass cabinet from the transparent bedplate and it drives the phonograph turntable and governor though an endless, rubber-frictioned fabric belt. The fly-ball governor is identical in action to that of all wind-up phonographs. It fun to see the very simple motor in action again. Apologies for that I don't have a copy of the sales hype brochure to share. Am working from memory of years ago. The most excellent book for those of you who like these things is Eric Reiss' "The Compleat Talking Machine; A Collector's Guide to Antique Phonographs " A few machines from our former collection were photographed for that book.
Interesting information-thank you! Best phonograph ephemera I had back in the day was a small hardcover (!) Victor Talking Machine catalog from the 20s, from before the merger with RCA. (Lost with lots of other irreplaceable books, pamphlets and sheet music in a Christmas Day 1995 fire.) The truly fun thing about knowing some old corporate history is being able to toss off information like JVC's name means Japanese Victor Company.
We used to have two of them. Ultra rare, snob-marketed phono of the early twenties. Came with a brochure touting how musically superior the Kurtzmann was due to its acoustically inert glass platter and bedplate, and how the piano soundboard grade Sitka spruce horn amplifed only the music of the record groove and no distortion or noise. This was the AUDIOPHILE's turntable, perhaps the first to be expressly sold as such. What a great video and thankful to see the Kurtzmann again. Our two: only one of tthem survived its shipping to FL. in the 1960s....the other was a box of shards.
🙏🙏🙏❤Great video.great classy appearance.amazing sound quality..pure acoustic flavour.I dont know modern mobile genaretion what about think to look at it.But this vintage ageless gorgeous machine get great honour year after year from authentic music lovers.
@Sasha Little It's real, but it is electric. Nobody would make a wind-up turntable on a glass platform and I had never heard of an electric turntable that early (1921). It is acoustically amplified, but the mechanism is electric powered. Either way, glass is a terrible platform for a turntable. I have to admit it is cool looking.
My goodness by a million miles the prettiest Phonograph that was ever made and this one looks like it was made yesterday, real time warp condition and i shudder to think the cost to buy one of these now 😮😮😮😮
The Kurtzmann could most definitely play both lateral and vertically recorded discs, as with so many of the machines of the immediate post-WWI era. This machine does have an electric motor, but reproduction is, of course, all acoustic. This was the low end Kurtzmann machine; more elaborate models concealed the glass turntable and motor board with expensive woods, as with the prestigious talking machines. However, by modern standards the all-glass model is definitely the most interesting! I've seen several examples of this model (though I've never seen one of the more expensive mahogany-clad Kurtzmanns). An exceptionally nice one--thanks for sharing!
The coolest phonograph I have ever seen.....what a magnificent piece of machinery! I bet someone in 1921 gave an arm and a leg for this gem....I still would :)
It's hard to believe anyone would design something that contemporary back in those days. Also, glass turntables are often equated with contemporary, expensive 'top end' hifi turntables. This gramophone sounds really excellent, with very little shellac based noise coming through. A real item of curiosity and interest. Thanks for posting.
Just when I thought the art deco 30's crosley bluebird type radios were the absolute coolest decorative/functional entertainment item, along comes this.
Gorgeous I am primarily a collector of 78brecords if poetry and folk etc,but I would love to own one of these I could make some amazing videos with my rare records playing whilst showing the mechanism wirking at the same time. I wonder if anybody is making modern versions perhaps using perspex. Thanks for sharing can you do do some more videos of this beautiful gramophone showing its working as it plays
That is a great song, I played the vocal over and over trying to get all the words.....eat an apple every day, get to bed by three, take good care of yourself, you belong to me!
Ray_Biker actually they use small weights usually 3 but using air paddles would be an excellent idea :) I wonder why no one did use air paddles, that's worth looking into.
Air paddles were used in music boxes and a few early phonographs. The advantage of the governor with weights is that the speed of it is easily adjustable. Also, a paddle governor only works by creating an opposing torque to it's spinning, meaning that if the platter (and thus the governor) starts spinning slower, the motor will have to push more energy into it to speed it up. A governor with weights also acts as a flywheel, meaning that the governor stores energy, and if it starts going slower, the governor will put energy back, helping the motor speed up more easily. If you have ever seen an ice skater spinning with their arms extended, then they take their arms closer to their bodies and suddenly start spinning faster, that's the exact same effect.
Hmmm...no. The governor is a limiting device to regulate the speed regardless of load. The weights are trying to fly out pulling a disc rotating onto a pad whose friction prevents the mechanism from overrunning. This pad is adjustable via a lever to change the speed by limiting how far the weights can fly out, the more they can, the greater the speed. A similar principle is used on (farm) tractors where the governor is set (a hand lever accelerator) and when the engine has to work harder, it slows down causing the speed of the governor to drop, the disc at the end of which is linked to the carburettor to increase fuel to compensate, and in the case of the gramophone, decreasing the pressure on the pad when you put the needle on the record.
Very interesting Watched it a fw times Still confused where the top control goes. To me this moves a an arma that moves a bar in the motor. What you mentioned makes much more sense, but cannot the where the speed control is attached. Also, what happens with the extra energy, speed of force ... they need a clutch somewhere to dump the difference. Some DUAL turnatables using AC motor could control the speed taking in and out a part of the iron core in the motor. This is not the case, I see the gobernor thing, but not how is related to the speed lever on the top. Anyways, this a brilliant piece, speed is very stable and think this happend back in the 20 !!!!. Hats off.
KURTZMANN le dio a ese fotógrafo 1 salto al adelanto electrónico de aquellas máquinas, plato de vidrio , motor eléctrico, la polea al motor , era 1 genio ...
Wow fantastic machine I've seen a lot of gramophones but I've never seen any thing like this before I have a emg gramophone witch is my best one. But your one is most unusual being glass thanks for sharing.
Loved it! The record proved as interesting as the phonograph -- some nice jazz solos at the end. Any idea who the musicians were? The trombonist sounds like the young Tommy Dorsey to me.
A glass on top of a glass wow what a beautiful thing
What a beautiful phonograph! Electric motor, belt driven, gorgeous design. Audiophiles, eat your hearts out. Superb record too: The California Ramblers (aka "Golden Gate Orchestra") with a great trombone solo by Miff Mole.
We had a Kurtzmann in our collection; my partner Ernie Bennett bought it in the middle 1960s. Along with it was an original sales brochure. It was selling to the rich crowd of "audiophiles" of the day. The selling points included the Kurtzmann Sitka spruce internal horn musically ideal for shellac records...because the same spruce is used for the finest piano sounding boards! ; ) And the glass turntable? That was acoustically important, too said the brochure; the glass was inert and damped-out all the metallic tones. The phono's turntable is powered by electricity, unusual for that era when most all phonos were wound-up. The motor itself is ball-shaped for a neat appearance suspended inside the glass cabinet from the transparent bedplate and it drives the phonograph turntable and governor though an endless, rubber-frictioned fabric belt. The fly-ball governor is identical in action to that of all wind-up phonographs. It fun to see the very simple motor in action again.
Apologies for that I don't have a copy of the sales hype brochure to share. Am working from memory of years ago.
The most excellent book for those of you who like these things is Eric Reiss' "The Compleat Talking Machine; A Collector's Guide to Antique Phonographs " A few machines from our former collection were photographed for that book.
what was the new price in 1920?
Interesting information-thank you!
Best phonograph ephemera I had back in the day was a small hardcover (!) Victor Talking Machine catalog from the 20s, from before the merger with RCA. (Lost with lots of other irreplaceable books, pamphlets and sheet music in a Christmas Day 1995 fire.) The truly fun thing about knowing some old corporate history is being able to toss off information like JVC's name means Japanese Victor Company.
Thank you for sharing that information Reid. Exciting to know some items from your collection are featured in a collectors chronicle.
That is a dream machine to own.
Way cool and so contemporary in its styling. Beautiful machine.
Jeff What is your last name…!
I am Jeff Galey….🎶🎸🎻🪕🎹🎓
We used to have two of them. Ultra rare, snob-marketed phono of the early twenties. Came with a brochure touting how musically superior the Kurtzmann was due to its acoustically inert glass platter and bedplate, and how the piano soundboard grade Sitka spruce horn amplifed only the music of the record groove and no distortion or noise. This was the AUDIOPHILE's turntable, perhaps the first to be expressly sold as such. What a great video and thankful to see the Kurtzmann again. Our two: only one of tthem survived its shipping to FL. in the 1960s....the other was a box of shards.
🙏🙏🙏❤Great video.great classy appearance.amazing sound quality..pure acoustic flavour.I dont know modern mobile genaretion what about think to look at it.But this vintage ageless gorgeous machine get great honour year after year from authentic music lovers.
Wow what a beauty. This must have been the Rolls Royce of turntables in its day.
I think it's fake. (EDIT: It's real. I was wrong)
@@tarstarkusz It's original.
@@tarstarkusz You're a fake.
@Sasha Little It's real, but it is electric. Nobody would make a wind-up turntable on a glass platform and I had never heard of an electric turntable that early (1921). It is acoustically amplified, but the mechanism is electric powered.
Either way, glass is a terrible platform for a turntable. I have to admit it is cool looking.
@@tarstarkusz It is NOT acoustically amplified. The engine only is electrified.
Огромное спасибо за такую красоты.
Техническая мысль гениальна.
Однозначно +!
The workmanship and build quality is amazing, and the audio quality from the reproducer and horn is superb.
My goodness by a million miles the prettiest Phonograph that was ever made and this one looks like it was made yesterday, real time warp condition and i shudder to think the cost to buy one of these now 😮😮😮😮
That's an absolutely gorgeous phonograph, and it's playing one of my favorite songs of the era!
Beautiful ! ! !
The Kurtzmann could most definitely play both lateral and vertically recorded discs, as with so many of the machines of the immediate post-WWI era. This machine does have an electric motor, but reproduction is, of course, all acoustic. This was the low end Kurtzmann machine; more elaborate models concealed the glass turntable and motor board with expensive woods, as with the prestigious talking machines. However, by modern standards the all-glass model is definitely the most interesting! I've seen several examples of this model (though I've never seen one of the more expensive mahogany-clad Kurtzmanns). An exceptionally nice one--thanks for sharing!
WHAT? You say that this phonograph is even low end? WOW that's amazing! I can only imagine their high end products!
The coolest phonograph I have ever seen.....what a magnificent piece of machinery! I bet someone in 1921 gave an arm and a leg for this gem....I still would :)
It's hard to believe anyone would design something that contemporary back in those days. Also, glass turntables are often equated with contemporary, expensive 'top end' hifi turntables. This gramophone sounds really excellent, with very little shellac based noise coming through. A real item of curiosity and interest. Thanks for posting.
Wow, that’s a gorgeous machine!
The beauty of a clean and simple design. 🌟
My gosh, that looks so modern! You could imagine a hipster buying one new off Amazon...
So classy! And glassy. Love it. You can see the mechanism. I would have wanted it so bad if was around back then.
I remember my grandma’s neighbor Larry Schlick had one of these in his garage. He used to work for my grandfather before moving to Wisconsin. ❤
An amazing and beautiful phonograph! Makes my Grandmother's cabinet Edison look pretty ordinary.
Simply Gorgeous work of art!!
love the simple way of that era, still sound awsome and built like a real jewel. What a piece of gear.
Yes - as you can see, there is a swivel point for the reproducer to turn it sideways for lateral records.
It amazing how something like that survived all those years.
Wow. Amazing!
I could have listened to this all day
Nein me too
What a wonderfull high end Thing.Think this one was very exklusive and very expensive, but wow from 1921!
Just when I thought the art deco 30's crosley bluebird type radios were the absolute coolest decorative/functional entertainment item, along comes this.
That's a work of art.
It's gorgeous
My family bought a Kurtzmann piano in 1923...I didn't know they made phonographs too--especially glass ones!
This is an Edison diamond 💎 disc with the song Button Up Your Over Coat great record choice
Sublime❤😊
What a marvelous machine !
What a beauty and what a great sound, I bet this is what high-end looked like back then. Must have cost a fortune and still is worth quite a lot
That is definitely a mechanical work of art. It sounds great, too. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, the modern clear audio statement back in the day? Lol not one for old 78 gear, but what great engineering art! Beautiful
Incredible document of the state of technology - the record is more disc-like than the platter :) Truly awesome deck
Beautiful machine!
What an amazing old phonograph, and I love that song. Wonderful video, Thanks for posting it!
Never seen a Kurtzmann in action before: incredibly modernistic for its day!
Gorgeous I am primarily a collector of 78brecords if poetry and folk etc,but I would love to own one of these I could make some amazing videos with my rare records playing whilst showing the mechanism wirking at the same time. I wonder if anybody is making modern versions perhaps using perspex. Thanks for sharing can you do do some more videos of this beautiful gramophone showing its working as it plays
That is a great song, I played the vocal over and over trying to get all the words.....eat an apple every day, get to bed by three, take good care of yourself, you belong to me!
Wow! I love it. The sound is gorgeous!
Pure art. Wow!
And it has the ability to go hill and dale! Very cool
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
A good beautiful machine
Beautiful phonograph ;)
Holy smoke...the parts came from my hometown of Rochester NY. Sweet.
Wow what a beauty
Very Cool! Sounds great for a recording so old!
Wow! This is gorgeous!
great to see the speed governor spinning like mad :D
So Beautiful!!
I LOVE THIS!!! How Beautiful indeed! LOVE The Record You chose as well!
WOW! That's so cool!
They don't build em like this anymore!
amazing
"The Golden Gate Orchestra" {Ed Kirkeby's California Ramblers}, recorded on January 18, 1929. Vocal by Jack Parker.
Yes that's a Beauty.....never seen one before...
Gorgeous 🥰
Amazing !!!! wath a beauty.
This is beautiful
very nice,very original.
Amazing! And it's attractive, too! 😀😀😀😀😀
Wonderful!!!
That is AWESOME !!!!!
Now this is just COOL!!!
Very interesting. It looks like they used rotating air paddles to maintain the rotation speed. Very clever.
Ray_Biker actually they use small weights usually 3 but using air paddles would be an excellent idea :) I wonder why no one did use air paddles, that's worth looking into.
Air paddles were used in music boxes and a few early phonographs. The advantage of the governor with weights is that the speed of it is easily adjustable.
Also, a paddle governor only works by creating an opposing torque to it's spinning, meaning that if the platter (and thus the governor) starts spinning slower, the motor will have to push more energy into it to speed it up.
A governor with weights also acts as a flywheel, meaning that the governor stores energy, and if it starts going slower, the governor will put energy back, helping the motor speed up more easily.
If you have ever seen an ice skater spinning with their arms extended, then they take their arms closer to their bodies and suddenly start spinning faster, that's the exact same effect.
Hmmm...no. The governor is a limiting device to regulate the speed regardless of load. The weights are trying to fly out pulling a disc rotating onto a pad whose friction prevents the mechanism from overrunning. This pad is adjustable via a lever to change the speed by limiting how far the weights can fly out, the more they can, the greater the speed. A similar principle is used on (farm) tractors where the governor is set (a hand lever accelerator) and when the engine has to work harder, it slows down causing the speed of the governor to drop, the disc at the end of which is linked to the carburettor to increase fuel to compensate, and in the case of the gramophone, decreasing the pressure on the pad when you put the needle on the record.
Very interesting Watched it a fw times Still confused where the top control goes. To me this moves a an arma that moves a bar in the motor. What you mentioned makes much more sense, but cannot the where the speed control is attached. Also, what happens with the extra energy, speed of force ... they need a clutch somewhere to dump the difference. Some DUAL turnatables using AC motor could control the speed taking in and out a part of the iron core in the motor. This is not the case, I see the gobernor thing, but not how is related to the speed lever on the top. Anyways, this a brilliant piece, speed is very stable and think this happend back in the 20 !!!!. Hats off.
Sounds as good as it looks, beautiful! :)
Very nice! Impressive...
Superb and sounds better than an Edison with the metal horn they had.
This machine is awesome. It's like what the great Gatsby's soundsystem would be like.
A beauty like this deserves better camera work
I have seen this video many,many times and just noticed something,the record is a Edison Diamond Disc,and should be playing at 80rpm not 78.
OMG this is beautiful. I just want to know how come there's enough friction from glass, that record doesn't slip?
Qué maravilla!
This matches the clear prison television sets made since 2001 that are so often found in pawn shops.
Its a beauty
Sublime
Very cool
KURTZMANN le dio a ese fotógrafo 1 salto al adelanto electrónico de aquellas máquinas, plato de vidrio , motor eléctrico, la polea al motor , era 1 genio ...
Wow fantastic machine I've seen a lot of gramophones but I've never seen any thing like this before I have a emg gramophone witch is my best one. But your one is most unusual being glass thanks for sharing.
That is most definately an Edison Diamond Disk
Loved it! The record proved as interesting as the phonograph -- some nice jazz solos at the end. Any idea who the musicians were? The trombonist sounds like the young Tommy Dorsey to me.
Wow what a beauty. This must be rolls royces
It looks like its very expensive and nice.
Oops, right in the title, 1921. Very nice
Pathé depth script records? The soundbox looks like the french ones (different geometry than Emil Berliner side script system of Grammophone / HMV)
Could it be, that this machine is mend to play Pathe records and damages the Edison Disc?
Good advice, stay away from bootleg hooch indeed.
I live in Buffalo, I want that! Never heard of the company though.
The factory was on Niagara near Pennsylvania. It was later a bowling ball factory,; now it's apartments.
Heerlijk !!
look at the thickness of the disc😳
Very nice machine. Made to play lateral and vertical! Do you know the date is way made?
A engenharia fonográfica do passado era interessante! Rio RJ Brasil
Is the electric motor, a very early General Industries motor??? Thanks for sharing, thats a beatifull machine!